At this year’s conference we will continue to lay the foundations of an economy rooted in cooperation and democratic ownership, one that meets the needs of all, particularly African-Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, women, youth, low income whites, and formerly incarcerated people located in the historic US South, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Location
The Rural Training & Research Center in Epes, Alabama is the hub of the Federation of Southern Cooperative’s (Federation) comprehensive outreach and training work. The Federation carries out comprehensive forestry and agricultural production research at this facility. The Center hosts training workshops on cooperative development throughout the year. In 2012 the Center hosted the first annual CoopEcon conference, giving participants access to the Federation’s deep and meaningful history. We are excited to once again gather in Epes at this amazing cooperative development facility!

About the Southern Grassroots Economies Project

The Southern Grassroots Economies Project (SGEP) is building networks across the US South to promote and launch sustainable cooperative economies. Our work is inspired by the rich history of social justice struggle in the South and looks to the example of the worker-owned cooperatives of Mondragon, Spain for guidance.

Business enterprises that are community-based are responsive to the needs of the people in their immediate area. They are far less likely than large corporations to pick up and leave their community based solely on the promise of a greater profit margin. These businesses, and the people who own and work in them, are also far better stewards of the environment and the local “commons”—because these resources also nurture and belong to them.

The South is home to communities marginalized throughout the history of the United States. Women, African Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, youth and poor whites are often the most affected by shifts in regional and global economies. This current crisis is no different. If the outcome of multiple rounds of corporate bailouts is merely congratulating Wall Street for lowering the unemployment rate slightly, we will not have achieved any significant gains. The individuals and organizations within the SGEP are working to create a culture of community-based ownership in the South—a culture that will fundamentally alter our relationship with business, work, and community wealth.